


Hell On Earth

by Artimas, Cluckster



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Code Name: Sailor V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Chaos, Dark, Evil, F/M, Sailor Moon Crystal, Sailor Moon Manga, Violence, War, no hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26384209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artimas/pseuds/Artimas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluckster/pseuds/Cluckster
Summary: At the final battle between the Senshi, Shitennou, Beryl, and Metallia. The bad guys win. Sailor Moon is gone. The Shitennou, Queen Beryl, and Metallia rule the world in war. The girls are scattered, powerless and battle to save the Shitennou and the world from further destruction. They now live in a world with no hope. Chaos reigns.
Relationships: Aino Minako/Kunzite, Chiba Mamoru/Tsukino Usagi, Hino Rei/Jadeite, Kino Makoto/Nephrite, Mizuno Ami/Zoisite, Queen Beryl/Prince Endymion
Comments: 28
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When the girls battled Beryl they were 17-18 years old.
> 
> This idea was brought to life by Cluckster, she wrote the whole outline and then gave me free rein to go with it as I pleased. The original idea for this fic is in big credit to her. <3

~Chapter 1~

Everything turned to disaster as soon as she had lost her hold on Kunzite. He was finally remembering her, she had seen the twinkle in his gray eyes, a hint of a smile and then, nothing. All the boys had stopped mid-stride as they were all remembering their past lives. Minako took a tentative step forward, she wanted to reach out to Kunzite but then stopped. The others were as confused as she was.

“Don’t…” he said, his voice hoarse.  
“Kunz…” Tear burned her eyes.  
“Get away, please… she’s back…” He looked at her, pain in his eyes. She read his face, he was sorry, he was going to give up.  
“No, no Kunz! Please, fight her!!” She took another step forward.  
“Stay back! I… I can’t keep her at bay, run! Run before she takes over again!” he pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt you again!” Tears filled his eyes.

She then heard Serenity scream. Endymion was still being controlled by Beryl and Metallia and he now had Sailor Moon by the throat. ‘No!’ she screamed inside her head. She watched as her Princess clawed at her past lovers’ hands, trying to breathe. His arms not budging.

“NO! SERE!!” she yelled.

Then she heard a laugh that brought back all the nasty memories of her past. The laugh that had come for her that fateful night. That laugh that rejoiced as it plunged his sword into her gut, spilling her blood. She closed her eyes to that memory. No, no, no! Not again! Not again!! She turned around and faced Kunzite. Metallia’s hold was back and the man she loved was no longer present. Tears fell from her eyes.

“Run! Get to Serenity! Now!” she yelled to the others.

The girls snapped out of it and ran towards where Serenity was, struggling to get Endymion’s hands off her neck. But before they could reach her a barrier flew up in front of them. Jupiter and Mars pounded on the invisible wall. She could hear Beryl laughing in the background. Mercury’s visor was up and she was calculating things on her mini-computer.

“Watch your Princess die!” she laughed.

The girls threw all their attacks on the barrier. The Shitennou were slowly creeping up to them, evil smiles painted on their faces, their eyes soulless. Venus started to panic; it could not happen again. She would not die at his hands again. She would not watch her Princess die again. They had come back for a reason. To live a normal life, not to have the past happen once more. She felt a sharp pain in her back, her breath caught in her throat, she turned around to see Kunzite, his sword in hand, her blood now covering the blade and a diabolical smile on his face. “There is no escape.” He hissed.

She summoned her sword and stood at the ready. She needed to save Serenity, she needed to blast through that barricade. She could hear her friends yelling out Usagi’s name and throwing all of their attacks at that wall. Time was running out she had to save her princess. She ran at the wall and began slashing at it with her sword. Sweat beading over her body as she continuously hit the wall with no sign of it weakening. She yelled and cursed. Mercury was still trying to figure out its weakness, but time was slipping by.

Sailor Moon with the little strength she had summoned her crescent wand, held it in both shaking hands, her lips were turning blue, tears pooled out of her eyes. She barely managed to get a sound out but the words were effective, a bright light shone from her wand, the power of the Silver Crystal bursting a blinding light between both her and Endymion.

Venus had to shield her eyes and fell to the ground, the pain in her back too much. Kunzite had slashed across her whole back. She could feel her blood oozing out of her wound. She slowly got up and looked around. Her friends were scattered on the ground, the boys had been blasted farther away. She flipped her hair away from her face and frantically looked around for her Princess. She managed to push herself off the ground and get up on trembling knees. She finally caught sight of Sailor Moon farther away with Endymion, both of them unconscious. Her back throbbed as she slowly limped towards her princess.

Then she heard it, Beryl’s laugh mixed in with Metallia’s. Venus kept her eyes on her Princess, but Beryl materialized next to Sailor Moon and smiled. She knelt down and placed her hand on Endymion. He stirred and woke up; his eyes still soulless. He looked at Beryl and smiled. She smiled back then grabbed the Crescent wand and yanked the crystal off, she threw the wand away, it clattered away into a pile of rubble and then she held the Silver Crystal in her hands. A look of triumph plastered her face, Endymion got closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, Beryl slapped it away and she clenched the jewel in her palm, relishing in its power. She walked away and laughed.

“It’s mine! It’s finally mine!” she cackled. She started to absorb the energy radiating from the Silver Crystal, cackling away, a look of pure evil and triumph a set mask on her face as the energy of the jewel was being adsorbed by her. A roar echoed off the walls of the cave they were in. Venus stopped in her tracks, she could feel the blood dripping from her back, down her butt and legs. She was going to pass out from losing too much blood. She fell to her knees; she couldn’t stay up. She didn’t know what to do anymore, her friends were all unconscious, the strength was leaving her body and now Beryl held the silver crystal. Was her Princess even alive? A roar echoed throughout the cave.

“BEERRYLLLLL!!!” Metallia shrieked. “BRING IIITT TOOO MEEEE NOOOWWW! BRING ME THE CRYSTAL!!”

Beryl glanced at the far end of the cave where it was the darkest, a look of annoyance now on her face, she didn’t want to give up the crystal, Venus could see it. She was lusting for its power. She finally turned and made her way to the end of the cave where Venus presumed Metallia resided. Venus was desperate, Metallia could not take hold of the Silver Crystal’s power, it would be the end of the world. They had already wiped out the Moon all those millennia ago, she couldn’t let them do it to the Earth, she had to get to Sailor Moon. She prayed to the Gods that she was still alive. She began to slowly crawl in the rubble, frantic. As she crawled over, she watched as Endymion finally acknowledged his past lover on the ground. He looked at her as he seemed to recognize her and at the same time didn’t.

Beryl finally reached her destination and reluctantly lifted her hand to the darkness hovering over her, the clear crystal shining like a beacon, red eyes appeared in the shadows, then a red mouth, smiling. Shadowed hands stole the crystal from Beryl and swallowed it. Beryl then quickly walked away, before she did something that she would regret. Metallia cackled, her voice bouncing off the walls, echoing through Venus’s ears and body. Venus coughed and spat out blood, this was not good. She had to reach Sailor Moon. She then felt pure terror. Metallia was absorbing all the power that the Silver Crystal was giving her. ‘I can’t let this happen again.’ Venus thought as her arms shook and trembled as she used the last of her strength to get to her Princess. Endymion spotted her crawling over and walked up to her, his foot landing on her left wrist with a hard crunch. She screamed in pain, tears burning her eyes. She coughed up more blood, Endymion smiled.

Sailor Moon stirred; her body began to glow a pure white. She slowly sat up, her hand went to her throat, it hurt and it was peppered in bruises. She looked at herself, she didn’t know why she was glowing, something wasn’t right. She looked around and saw Endymion crushing Venus’s hand. She tried to get up but found that she had no strength. 

“Endymion! Please stop!” she said with a horse voice. Endymion had done more damage then she thought. Endymion finally turned his head towards her. She looked at him pleading, she searched his eyes, but her Endymion wasn’t there. He saw that, smiled and then crushed Venus’s wrist even more. Venus screamed out in pain once again.  
“Venus!!” she said as she started to slowly lift off the ground. She didn’t know what was happening. Her brooch was blinking in and out, her fuku as well. She put her hands to her chest, searching for the Silver crystal, it wasn’t on her, she then turned to the corner where Metallia was growing in size, she could feel the crystal there.

“No!” she whispered.

“Serenity… I’m sorry!” Venus said. The mixed pain of her bleeding back and crushed wrist were too much. She could hardly keep her eyes open. Her breath now shallow.  
“Venus! Stay with me, I need you. I’m… I’m going to try something.” She said but then screamed in agony. Venus snapped out of her daze; Endymion had removed his foot from her wrist. Something was wrong.  
“She’s… accessing… “ Sailor Moon said, unable to finish her words. Her body pulsed out white light, her fuku flickering in and out. Pink ribbons appearing and disappearing.  
“No!” Venus screamed. Metallia was locking into the core of the Silver crystal, absorbing its life force. Serenity being part of it and all of them as well. She then saw her friends all start to glow in their respective colors, her as well. Venus panicked. Mercury’s powers where the first to be absorbed. Her fuku flickered out, then burst out into a sea of blue ribbons then she was back into her civilian clothes. Then Mars and Jupiter. And then herself. Her power leaving her body was like a part of her soul had vanished. She felt empty and cold. No will to go on.

She watched as Sailor Moon was about to go through the same fate. She could see her struggling to keep a hold of her power. She couldn’t stop the tears that were pooling from her eyes. She couldn’t believe that this was happening once again. But this time, Queen Serenity wasn’t here to save them. She felt powerless and she hated herself for it. She was going to watch her Princess be devoured by this evil and she was helpless to stop it. She let out a sob. Endymion watched Sailor Moon in pain and smiled. Beryl watched nearby finally watching the Moon brat in pain and dying in front of her.

Sailor Moon closed her eyes and hugged her chest. She was not going to let Metallia devour the crystal, she needed to make this last leap to save it and destroy Metallia and Beryl. Even if it meant it would destroy her. She had to do it. She couldn’t let them win.

‘Venus. Please take care of Earth for me.’ She sent to her friend. Minako looked up, her eyes blurry from all her tears.  
“No! Serenity don’t!” she said into her sleeves.  
‘I need to do this. I need to give Earth some hope.’  
“It’s not worth it!” she sobbed.  
‘It will be ok. Tell Endymion I’m sorry. Take care of everyone for me.’  
“Serenity! Noo, please!! Don’t leave me.” She sobbed as she finally lifted her face to see her.  
‘I trust you. Help the Earth be better again. I love you.’  
“NNNOO!!” she said as she reached out with her right arm.

She watched her friend use the last of her energy to fly into Metallia, tears falling from her eyes, the crescent moon shining from her forehead, the sign of her lunar royal heritage. Minako screamed as she watched her friend sacrifice herself to save them all. Sailor Moon entered the massive shadow being that was Metallia. Beryl didn’t like this. She disappeared and reappeared next to Endymion, grabbing him and the both of them vanished. Metallia was laughing and growing, slowly regaining her powerful form that was destroyed all those millennia ago.

“Puny Moon Princess, you cannot stop this. I have the crystal now; the power is all mine!” she bellowed. “The crystal and Earth are mine now. You cannot win.”

Metallia continued to laugh as she slowly regained her form.

“VENUS POWER!” Minako yelled as she thrust her good arm up in the air. Nothing happened. She tried again and again. Her powers were gone. She yelled out in rage as she tried to reach for the power that was usually there, now an empty void. She was the only still conscious person in this hell hole. Not one of the girls or Shitennou had woken up since. Why did she always have to be the witness to all of this destruction and death?

Metallia started screaming. Minako looked up, the dark shadow had stopped growing. Her shadow arms had gone to her chest trying to pull something out it. “GET OUT! GET OUT! THE CRYSTAL IS MIIINNEEE!!!” Metallia screeched as she clawed at her shadowed chest trying to rip Sailor Moon out of her body. Minako was slightly hopeful that she would actually do it. “YOU WILL NOT WIN!”

Her body pulsed between shadow and bright light. The light of the Silver crystal was piercing through, Metallia was losing control. And in an instant time seemed to freeze. In a flash, white beams shot out of Metallia.

“NNOOO!!!! THE CRYSTAL! YOU LUNAR BITCH!!!” she shrieked. Minako realized what had shot out of Metallia. They were shards of the Silver Crystal. Sailor Moon had shattered it, rendering it useless. Minako buried her face in her arms and heaved a sob.

“AAARRRGGG!!!!” Metallia shrieked again, her body pulsing faster now between light and darkness to finally exploded in a blinding white light. It was the last thing Minako saw before passing out.

* * * * * * * * *

Minako woke up in a gasp and almost fell out of her broken bed. Her body was covered in sweat and she was out of breath. Her tank top was stuck to her. She ran her hands through her hair and she held her head. Tears stung her eyes. This dream plagued her on most nights. But it wasn’t a dream though. It had actually happened. Five years ago, Usagi had shattered the Silver Crystal and sacrificed herself to save Earth.

But that sacrifice was made in vain. Beryl and Metallia were still alive and Earth was in complete war and chaos. Beryl was now Queen of Earth with Endymion at her side, they reigned war all across the world. The only good thing that had come out of this was that the crystal could no longer be used for its power. No one had ever located any of the broken pieces. Minako was sure they all turned to dust as they burst out of Metallia that fateful night.

She dried her tears with her blanket and then looked at the clock on the broken table that was next to her. It was 3:38AM. She hadn’t fallen asleep until at least 1AM, she laid down back into her makeshift bed and brushed her hands over her face. She had to get up at 5AM, but she knew it was going to be hard to get back to sleep now that she relived her worst nightmare yet again. She had made this old abandoned apartment room hers. Things were falling apart but it kept her warm and safe during the night. The building they resided in was considered dangerous and unstable but it was still standing after 4 years of them making base and camp here. She rolled over to her side and faced the wall.

Usagi’s last words echoed in her head. _‘I trust you. Help the Earth be better again. I love you.’_ She hated herself. The Earth was far from being better, it was the exact opposite. Her last words had so much faith in her that it destroyed her every time they resonated in her head. Fresh tears slipped out her eyes, she pulled the blankets over her head and cried herself to sleep, it was far from restful.  
  



	2. Chapter 2 - The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are now 22-23, living in a post-apocalytic world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea was brought to life by Cluckster, she wrote the whole outline and then gave me free rein to go with it as I pleased. The original idea for this fic is in big credit to her. <3

**~Chapter 2~**

The Plan

She was up before her alarm yet again, her eyes burned from her crying only an hour or so ago. She glanced at her clock; it was 4:54AM. She sighed and rolled out of bed and pushed her blankets aside. She closed off the alarm set for 5AM and began her morning stretches. The world had gone to hell and back. Sailor Moon’s sacrifice only had a partial healing effect, it had partially healed the wound that Kunzite had inflicted on her back, her shattered wrist by Endymion and had transported them all out of that cave and back to Tokyo.

Since then Minako had built her own army here in Tokyo to help battle off Metallia’s youma and all the brainwashed and turned population. As she was now powerless, she had to turn to normal resources. Without her powers and the Crystal, they had to resort to human defense and weapons. Hand to hand combat and a variety of weapons. She had taught herself multiple types of combat skills, how to use knives, a hand rifle, and a sniper rifle. Sadly, there was no saving the population afflicted by Metallia’s and Beryl’s reign. The only option was death. She hated it. Sometimes she would see the faces of those she had killed, haunting her. Never in her life, she thought that it would come to this. She felt damned and cursed. She hated herself every day.

When she had woken up after Sailor Moon’s sacrifice, she found herself in the middle of Tokyo, she immediately began to search for her friends. She found Rei first, then Ami, and lastly Makoto. They had finally all got their memories back; she gave a quick thanks to the crystal’s last power for that. All of them had taken time away from each other to digest everything that had happened. She respected their wishes. It was something hard to go through, she had gone through it as well. She gave them the time they needed, as much as she wanted them by her side. She had searched and searched for Luna and Artemis, they were nowhere to be found. She had declared them dead. They would have made their way to her by now and as the days went by, they didn’t show up. She felt so alone.

That was when Beryl and Metallia took over all communication devices and announced themselves to the world, and declared that they either surrendered to them or faced death. Panic hit the streets all over the world. Many didn’t know what was happening, some thought it was a hoax, and others began hiding away and stocking up on anything they needed. Minako had tried to calm the citizens of Tokyo but not much listened to her, the panic had set in. The select few who had a clear head joined the start of her army. Beryl took over the base of Mount Fuji, creating her Dark Crystal Castle there, where she ruled over Japan with Metallia, who had somewhat found her original form. She had to continuously drink the lives of humans to keep her form and she didn’t care how many lives it took. Once Beryl’s Dark Crystal Castle was formed, she announced that she was sending her generals out across the world to take over and reign on her behalf while she sat in Tokyo. Kunzite was sent to Asia, Zoisite was sent to the UK, Nephrite to Africa, and Jadeite to America. They took over each country, wreaking havoc and death everywhere they went. They destroyed homes and families, landmarks, historical buildings and cities. They didn’t care. She watched most of the destruction through reports and TV footage. It was one of the things they kept alive, means of communication. Beryl and Metallia wanted everything broadcasted to the world to show that they meant business and that they were now the rulers of the world. Beryl had declared herself Queen and Endymion her King.

After the Shitennou had taken over, some had come back to Tokyo a year or two ago. Kunzite would come and go, Jadeite had stayed to continuously rage hell where ever Rei was stationed. Zoisite had stayed in the UK and Nephrite in Africa.

The girls had come back to Minako after the first couple of months, having survived the first wave of chaos Beryl had sent to Tokyo. Minako had begun building an army, saving the people she could. She helped train the others in hand to hand combat, showed them how to use some weapons, but then let them decided what they wanted to learn more about. Minako had recruited some people with military and police background, those who didn’t turn. They had been an asset to her army and for training all the new people who would join every day. She had first set up camp in St. Luke’s International Hospital, the biggest Hospital in Tokyo. She had found some doctors and nurses hiding out, they had barricaded a good part of the Hospital, and a good part of the staff where still alive and secretly helping people who needed it. They had made the Hospital look abandoned so that was one of the reason’s why Minako had headed there with the girls. She also wanted to stack up on medical supplies and discovered what home some of the doctors and nurses had made for themselves there. They eventually moved the army to the hospital, in small waves so that they wouldn’t get caught by the youma patrolling the streets.

The first year and a half that they resided there she saw how her friends were suffering. None of them would have thought that things would have come to this. Rei had taken over the hospital’s chapel had built her sacred fire there and spent most of her days reading the flames. Her sacred crow Phobos had survived the chaos, Demos sadly hadn’t. Rei had become violent and angry; she lost her temper most of the time and would stay in the chapel. She would spend nights practicing sword fighting and archery. Ami had become silent and cold. She spent most of her time tending to the sick and injured and in the medical labs researching/playing with poisons and cures. She didn’t talk much and kept to herself. She trained on how to be stealthy and silent as a mouse so should sneak up on her enemies and poison them. Minako didn’t want to get on her bad side. She had never seen this dark side to Ami, would have never even thought it possible. Makoto would do her best to keep a smile on her face. She had started a garden on the top floor of the hospital and was able to produce many fruits and vegetables to help feed their ever-growing army. She also had another garden that grew flowers and herbs and other plants for healing and cures. She would help supply Ami with the things that she needed; she was the only one who could really talk to Ami on the rare occasions she decided to speak. Makoto also spent her time working out and training with multiple firearms.

The friends she knew were pretty much gone. Three different girls had emerged when hell took over. Minako did her best to keep the girls together even though they were not all as close as they used to be. Their presence in the Hospital was enough for her. Minako and Rei would plan the raids, the defense, the strategies, and the offense. Also, both of them would help train the new recruits, Makoto would help as well. Ami would teach the ones who bravely wanted to learn her trade.

This had gone on for the first year and a half, then they got attacked by a hoard of youma and brainwashed humans, the infected they now called them, they had not seen coming and had to grab what they could and evacuate as fast as possible before it got blasted to bit by bazookas and army tanks. They were lucky enough to have all evacuate safely, only a handful of their army didn’t make it. They had all split up for a couple of months before Minako found their new current residents. She knew that the Shinjuku Park Tower was condemned and marked as unsafe by some experts, she decided to check it out anyway. Some floors weren’t safe and it had some surface damage in other places but from what Minako could see it looked ok to live in and make as their new base. It took her a couple more months to find everyone who had scattered and secretly move them to the tower. Ever since Beryl had not found out where they were hiding. They had stayed safe and had made all of their routes back to the base hidden and they had utilized the sewers as well and created hidden tunnels. They had done everything to make sure no one paid attention to the Shinjuku Park Tower. The youma and the infected population were always on the lookout for the former Senshi, their photos plastered everywhere, always on the lookout and being hunted.

After her morning stretching was done, she went in the shower, they were lucky that the electricity, plumbing, and power was still functional. They did their best to use minimal lighting during the night but if they did, they made sure that the blinds and windows were covered. She let the hot water pour over her head and back. She quickly washed up and dried her hair with a towel. She quickly redressed the wound she had on her left thigh due to a raid from 3 days ago, she leg had got caught on a protruding pipe in the sewers as they made their retreat back to the base. The doctors had given her antibiotics just in case and cleaned out the wound. She got dressed, tied on her gun holsters, and strapped her sword to her back. She made her way to the 52nd floor where Rei would be waiting for her. Ami and Makoto had been gone for a couple of months now. Ami had gone on a rage and kill mission after Zoisite and Makoto had left to get Nephrite, she had been determined that she could break the hold Metallia had on him. Told them that she wasn’t coming back until he was himself again. Rei had yelled at her that it was futile to try, due to her many encounters with Jadeite, she knew it wasn’t going to work. But Makoto left anyway, with some sliver of hope. 

Minako walked down the unlit hallways to their war room. They had bunched a couple of tables and screwed them all together. Plastered the top and painted the world map to it. They used it to keep track of what was happening. They had brought up all the computers and TVs and connected them to the satellites and internet that was surprisingly still working. They had surprising took in a couple of computer geeks and hackers and they were able to make all their connections secure and untraceable from any off Beryl’s goons and search teams. She walked in to hear the familiar hum of the electronics now on sleep mode. She went to the main computer and activated it. After a couple of seconds, the room lit up, most of the windows of the room were painted black, the others were covered with dark drapes. From this floor, they had a good view of their surroundings. She took a quick peek outside, the sun was starting to rise, she saw more buildings smoking in the distance. It seems that Jadeite was busy last night. Rei would have a field day with this one. She turned on the sound to the TVs, reporters from all over the world were talking about all the events happening in their respective countries. The UK had been somewhat quiet for the past year or so. They hadn’t heard from or seen anything related to Zoisite. She wondered if Ami had found him and finally put an end to him. There was also the same pattern with Africa, nothing from Nephrite. Even though the youma kept up the chaos on both continents. She hoped that Makoto had found him and was successful in her mission, but she wasn’t going to keep her hopes up.

“So, anything new?” Rei said from the door frame.  
“Nothing much, Jadeite seems to have some fun last night, a couple of buildings are smoking.”   
“Son of a bitch!” she said under her breath.   
“I know, I thought he was going to calm down… I guess I was wrong.”

Rei grumbled and went to the screen as well, looking them over. Minako could already see the anger on Rei’s face. She knew Rei was getting better at controlling her anger around her.

“Any news on Ami or Mako?” she asked going from screen to screen, looking at the news reports.   
“Nothing yet…” Minako replied switching over to the computers. Looking for any codes from their allies.   
“I hope they are ok…” she said sounding a bit worried.   
“Me too.”

Rei continued to monitor the screens and jotted down notes on a note pad. She looked as tired as she was. They did their morning routine for the first hour, noted down any sort of improvement and irregularities. Nothing out of the normal this morning. Minako got out of her chair and was about to head out.

“I’m going to go grab some breakfast at the cafeteria, you want me to bring you anything?” she asked her raven-haired friend.   
“Hum, no I’m ok.”  
“Are you sure? I think Kagame was making muffins this morning.”  
“Oh yeah? Ok, grab me one then. We need to talk, don’t we?” Rei asked her.  
“Yeah, and you’re not going to like it, so the muffin is a peace offering.”   
“Hum… ok.”

Minako made her way to the 47th floor where they had built a cafeteria with the equipment they had found in the lower level cafes and restaurants. She walked off the elevator and made her way to the dining hall. She could already smell the muffins baking. She was happy that Makoto had made new gardens at the top of the tower, its glass roofing’s made the perfect environment. Makoto had taught a bunch of willing students to learn her trade before leaving on her mission. She got to her destination and saw Kagame pulling out trays from the ovens and placing them on the counter to cool off. The other cooks were handling the prepping of ingredients and making other things before the morning crowd arrived.

“Minako-san! Good morning! Muffins are almost done!” Kagame said with a smile.   
“Morning Kagame! It smells delicious.” She said grabbing a stray chair and parked herself in front of the counter.   
“I made some apple cinnamon muffins; I hope you’ll like them.” She smiled.   
“I’m sure they are delicious, everything you make never disappoints,” Minako admitted.   
“You flatter me. Thank you. I learned from Makoto-sensei she showed me everything.”  
“I can tell. It smells divine. Once they have cooled down, I’ll have six please!” she said with a smile.  
“Sure thing!!”

Minako watched the morning crew chop, dice, wash, and cook away. She was never that talented when it came to cooking, so watching masters at work always fascinated her. When she was on her own she survived on canned foods, instant noodles, granola bars, and stale bread. On rare occasions, she would be able to steal some meat and fruits from some still open hidden restaurants. After a couple of minutes, Kagame put 6 muffins on a tray with one cup of hot coffee and one of green tea. Minako thanked her and made her way back up to the war room.

“Hey! Look what I have!” she said with a small smile. Rei was still concentrating on the screens in front of her. She made her way to Rei’s desk and placed the muffins and the green tea in front of her. Rei wrapped her hands around the teacup by habit. She then took her eyes away from the screens and placed them on Minako.  
  
“You’re going after him, aren’t you?” Rei asked grabbing a muffin.   
“How did you know?” she said sitting in the chair next to her.  
“The fires might have mentioned it to me a couple of weeks ago, I was just waiting for you to make up your mind.”  
“Oh… yeah, he’s finally back in Japan, I want to take a chance and try getting him back. I haven’t had the courage to do it in the past 5 years… you three have been braver than me on that front.”  
“It’s not an easy task, my heart gets ripped out every time I see him. I understand how you haven’t done it yourself.”  
“I know, it’s not going to be easy… but I want to try.”  
“I know. I’m not happy with you leaving, but… I understand.”  
“You’ll hold the fort for me then?”  
“Of course, you know I will.”  
“Thank you.”  
“But please be safe and careful, the flames showed me something dark is coming. When, I do not know yet… but I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel right.”  
“You know I’m always careful. I’ll keep in touch when I can. Can you get me a encrypted cell phone connected to our network?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I’ll get Yoshiki on it. I think he found some cell phones on his last raid to the electronic store.”  
“Thank you.”  
“When do you think you will be leaving?” Rei asked taking a sip of her tea.  
“I’d like to leave tonight but if I can’t tomorrow night for sure. I’m picking up a drop-off from our American allies, they should be dropping some ammo and I want to make sure we bring it here safely and undetected.” Minako said holding her coffee.  
“Ok, please make sure you have everything you need before leaving,” Rei said.   
“I will, are you genuinely concerned for me?”  
“Oh shut up, I may be a raging queen but I do still care about my friends.”  
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you.” Minako teased.   
“Don’t push it Mina.”

Minako smiled and reached for a muffin. They enjoyed the rest of their small breakfast in peace until the rest of their crew started to appear for their tasks.

The morning went well for once. Minako had contacted the American allies and they were scheduled to arrive on time. Minako prepared her crew and they were set to leave at 11:45AM, they had 15 minutes to get to the rendezvous point, collect the drop-off, and quickly bring it back to the compound. Hopefully, everything will go to plan and there won’t be too many youma and infected around. The snipers went off ahead of them to get into position, Minako grabbed more of her weapons, brought her hair up into a ponytail, rearranging her red bow, and slipped into her protective gear. She collected her team in the basement and they made their way through the tunnels. They all ran with weapons in hand, keeping their eyes open, just in case they found any youma or infected roaming the tunnels.

They were close to the opening where the rendezvous point was, Minako looked around, gave the all-clear and made her way up the ladder. She unlocked the lock on the grate and took a look through it, nothing seemed out of place, she lifted the grate and stood out of it quickly and had her gun at the ready. She quickly assessed the location; she spotted her snipers at the ready and clearing the area she finally gave the ok for her team to come out. Her senses had heightened ever since that fateful day, having to rely a lot on her eyes and ears much more then before. She kept her ears open for any slight change of sound in the air. She looked at her watch, it was 11:59AM, the US Army silent grade plane should arrive any second now. The US Army was able to save some high-tech aircrafts and get away, they had been using these silent and fast planes to deliver things to the resistants all around the world. Minako’s team was their first drop of the day and they needed that ammo. They still had some in stock but it was always better to have a bigger backup. She had learned that the hard way a couple of years back.

As if on queue the plane silently appeared and made its way to the rendezvous point, Minako gave them the signal and the merchandise door to the plane opened and lowered down a big wrapped up crate, swiftly and fast. As soon as the crate hit the ground, Minako unlatched it and gave the ok and thanks to the crew and pilot with hand signals and they disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Once the plane was gone her crew started to unravel the crate and take it apart and fill up their bags. The radio clipped to her jacket started to click in a warning pattern, one of the snippers was warning them that enemies were on their way. She signaled her team to hurry and get everything back in the tunnels. She heard one of her snippers go off, the enemies were getting closer. She cocked up her gun and held it in place, keeping an eye on the area, she told her team to hurry, she didn’t want to lose anyone on this trip. She kept her eye looking through her scope, looking into the distance, watching for any youma that the snippers missed. She spotted one jumping over some cement blocks and was headed their way, eyes blazing red with hatred. She aimed her gun and let out two shots, one to the head then one to the chest before it fell. As soon as it hit the ground it began to disintegrate into the air. She looked back to the crate, only three boxes left, she shouted a hurry as she spotted another youma, she shot it down quickly.

She looked back again, two more left, she continued to survey the area, she heard another snipper go off in the distance, then another. A pack was probably on their way to them having heard shots fired. Minako was starting to panic a little as she continued to look out for her crew, one more box left, she spotted an infected human, eyes blood red, mouth black, and fingertips stained black as well. She took a breath and shot it, it went down in a pool of blood, but these bodies didn’t disintegrate, they stayed there because they were once one of them, the human race. One of her crew tapped her on the should and she looked back quickly, the crate was empty and they were good to go. She told her team to go down before her, they all hurried down and called out to her that they were all good and she slowly backed to the manhole. More shots were fired from the rooftops, more youma were climbing over the rubble and making their way to her. She shot them down and once they were gone, she quickly made her way down the ladder and locked the grate and jumped down into the darkness where her crew was waiting for her. They didn’t move for a couple of minutes, waiting and listening if more youma were on their way but none of them came. The snippers must have gotten the rest and once they were cleared, they would make their way back to the base.

Minako double-checked her crew and made sure everyone was alright, they packed up the rest of the boxes securely in their packs and made their way back to camp. They brought the ammo to the armory and started to unpack. Minako left them to do their work and dropped her excessive weapons and armor in her room and then met Rei back in the war room. 

Rei was still sitting in the same chair that Minako had left her in an hour ago. There was a box on the world table.

“I got you an encrypted phone from Yoshiki. He said you should be good to go as soon as you input your code into it.” Rei said her cup of tea in hand.   
“Thanks, Rei.”  
“Everything go well with the drop?” Rei asked finally peeling her eyes away from the screens.   
“Yes, the cargo is secure, there was a small hoard of youma and some infected. But nothing we couldn’t take care of.”   
“The crew ok?”  
“Yes. No one got hurt.”   
“Good. So, you are leaving tonight I presume?”

Minako nodded as she took the box on the world table. “Yeah, I’m going to catch one of the cargo trains heading to Mount Fuji, Kunzite has taken over the Oshino Hakkai Springs a couple of days ago, I’m sure I’ll find him there. Anyways, it’s the first place I’m going to look.”  
“Please be careful, Mina. And please… keep in touch, at least give me one sign of life every day.” She said with a hint of worry in her voice.   
“I will do my best.” She promised, it was the best she could offer. She didn’t know what she would encounter.  
“Just… just don’t go off radar…” she said going back to her screens.

Minako knew what she meant, to not lose contact like Ami and Makoto did. She knew Rei secretly missed them but didn’t want to show it to her. Minako missed them too and she prayed to all the Gods out there that they were safe and still alive. Once she would get Kunzite back she would go on a mission to bring back her friends. She opened the box with her new cell phone and powered it up. Once it was loaded, she set it up with fingerprint and facial recognition. Once the security screen popped up, she inputted her security code and it connected to the base, satellite, and internet. Once she was set up, she pocketed the phone and the charger and went next to Rei.

“I’ll come to see you before I leave ok. I need to go pack.” She said placing a hand on her shoulder.   
“Thank you.” Rei said as she noted down more notes.

Minako smiled and went back to her room. She began packing and picking out the stuff that she was going to bring with her. She went to the armory to grab the additional weapons and ammo she needed for this trip. After she hit the cafeteria where Kagame supplied her with some travel food. She went back to her room and went to the bathroom, she opened up the cupboard and grabbed a box. It was a box of temporary hair dye, a medium brown, she had been debating dying her blond locks for weeks now. Her blond hair was her pride but she needed all the cover she could get to make sure she wasn’t caught. She began to rip open the box and started to dye her hair. Once done, as she waited for the color to activate, she finished up her packing, her backpack was now full. Her traveling clothes and armor were laid on her broken bed. Once the timer on her phone went off, she hit the shower and began washing her hair, she watched as the dark dye pooled down her legs to her feet. Once the water was running clear she got out and began drying herself. She went over to the broken mirror to look at the damage she had done to her head. She didn’t like what she saw but it was needed for her mission. She looked away and wrapped her hair in a towel. She began putting her clothes on but before she put on her armor or equipped her weapons, she went to go dry her hair. Once that was done the braided it back tightly. She looked at the red bow now lying on the counter, the red bow that she had worn for years, would now have to sit here until she came back. Leaving a piece of herself behind. She grabbed another box of the counter. Colored contact lenses, these were brown as well to mask her beautiful blue eyes. She put them in and then looked at herself in the mirror again. She didn’t like what she saw, she was a different person with just a different color of hair, hairstyle and eye color. It was crazy. All this would pay off once she brought back Kunzite.

The sun was starting to set so she went back down to the cafeteria to grab her last diner there for a while. Kagame had made some spaghetti, Minako stuffed her face enjoying her last big meal. Kagame had almost not recognized her when she had ordered her diner. Minako was happy that her disguise was working. Once full she made her way back up to the war room and went to see Rei. She had moved onto the computers now, someone had brought her a plate of spaghetti, she hadn’t touched it yet.

“Hey.” She said. “Don’t forget to eat again, ok?” Minako said approaching her.   
“Yeah, I’ll take a bite soon,” Rei said as she turned around to face her friend. “Woah!”  
“Too much?” she asked.  
“No, no! It will certainly help on your mission!” she said looking her over.   
“It’s what I’m going for.”   
“So, you all set?”  
“Yeah, I came to say goodbye.”

Rei got up, her face a mask of neutrality with a hint of anger. She walked up to Minako and hugged her, held her tight. Minako was in shock. Rei hadn’t shown this type of affection since before hell broke loose. Minako wasn’t sure if she should hug her back or if Rei would rip her arms off. She slowly wrapped her arms around her friend, tears burned her eyes. She missed her old friend.

“Please, come back…” Rei whispered in her friend’s ear. Minako hugged her tighter.  
“I will! You stay safe ok?” Minako said struggling to keep her tears in.  
“You are all I have left right now…”  
“Same.”

Rei stepped away and wiped away a stray tear, her nose pink. Minako smiled and dabbed at her threatening tears. Rei then hugged her again gave her a kiss on the cheek and went back to her computer. She grabbed the plate of food and took a bite. Minako smiled and made her way out of the room.

“I’ll send you a message once I’m on the train.” She said as she turned the corner to leave the room.

Minako got back to her lodgings, strapped on her armor, equipped her weapons, and slung on her backpack. She grabbed her beanie and tucked her braid into it and slipped it over her head. She made her way down to the tunnels, gun in hand, and set on the course to intercept the cargo train that was supposed to pass by at 8:50PM. The tunnels were quiet as she made her way through them. She only had to shot one lonely infected. She had made it on time for the train. She hid while the front of the train passed, by then ran up to the tracks and got a grip on one of the ladders on one of the carts. She moved from cart to cart until she found one she could hide in and then slipped in.

This ride was going to be a long one. These trains didn’t go fast to not upset the cargo or have anything move around too much. She finally settled between some crates and sat down. The nights were still warm for now so she wouldn’t freeze too much tonight.

Minako mentally prepared herself for her meeting with Kunzite. She wasn’t 100% sure if he was still there but she was going to take the chance. She had been weak to not face him since. She had to make him remember, break Metallia’s hold on him. She felt in part responsible for the terror the Shitennou have been inflicting over the world. Usagi was gone and that left a gaping hole in her heart. She hated herself that she couldn’t prevent her from sacrificing herself yet again to save them from war. That she had to witness it in a second lifetime. She felt like a horrible leader and useless. She was so sure that they would have won that battle. But the hold that Metallia had on the boys was too strong.

She knew that Metallia had not regained her form 100% and that she continuously had to feed on humans to sustain her. She was hoping that this would help her bring Kunzite to her. If not, she would make another plan to infiltrate the Dark Crystal Castle and put an end to her. Even if it killed her. She couldn’t let the world live like this anymore, she hated feeling the way she did. The people of Earth didn’t deserve this, they never did. She had to make this right. She wanted her normal life again, she wanted her friends back, smiling. Usagi, her Princess. The thought of her brought back the pain of that night. The one that haunts her every night. Usagi was gone… and she would never see her smile again. Hear her laughter. The one she had sworn to protect, in two lifetimes, and she had failed. She pulled a small blanket out of her pack and wrapped it around herself. She took out her phone and sent an encrypted message to Rei saying that she had made it on the train and was on her way to the Oshino Hakkai Springs, then put it away. She set her alarm on her watch to wake her in 2 hours. She closed her eyes and hoped that she would have some dreamless sleep. She needed to be rested for what she had to do. And so, she drifted off.


End file.
